VOID In VOID The VOID Sun VOID
by redblackroses23
Summary: -VOID- JJ's leaving and the team has already decided they don't like her replacement. Soon thought, this young lady proves to be a very valuable team asset, a great a friend, and maybe something more for Spencer Reid. Spencer/OC -VOID-
1. Prologue

_**A/N: The first chapter to In The Sun. I just had to get it written and out there, so here it is. Let me know if you want it continued. And I apologize for my rant in the Author's Note in the latest installment of Need You Now, I'm about to go back and delete it, though I will keep the petition link up in the note and on my profile**_.

_**And please note, just because I put this up, doesn't mean the poll is closed. I put this up soulfully for me**_,_** you can still vote on which story you want started and I will start it, but the updates will depend on the reviews, same for every other story from here on out. The story with the most reviews will get updated the most.**_

_**I do not own Criminal Minds or the song 'In the Sun'. CBS owns the show, Joseph Arthur and his signing record company own the song. I do own Adine and this story line.  
**_

Unit Chief Hotchner sat at his desk finishing paper work. It was late, to say the least, but if he didn't do this, no one would. However, tonight the paper work was taking much longer than it normally, for tonight Hotch kept getting distracted by something that had taken place a few hours earlier…

"_Hotch?" He heard a familiar voice call from the doorway. "Yes, come in, JJ." He told her, not looking up from the papers spread across his desk. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he could guess from the black sky outside of his windows that it was late enough for JJ to be heading home. He was a bit thrown off by her knocking on his office door this late._

_He finally looked up from his desk when he heard her footsteps come to a stop in front of his desk._

"_Hotch, I-," She started, looking down at the floor, "I don't think I can do this job anymore."_

_Hotchner stood up and led the woman across his office to some seats. They both sat down across from the other and he asked her why she thought that._

"_Hotch, I'm a mother now." She told him. "I know I have been for a while, but after Henry was born, I thought I could balance this job and my family, but I- I can't."_

"_JJ," Hotch started, "I know. I don't blame you for wanting out. This job, it takes everything a person has. Their time, energy, sometimes sanity and life. It's a hard job. No one will be little you."_

"_I-I know," She admitted, "But, I-I just feel like I could be trying harder. I mean, this job took your marriage and the life of the woman you love. You get to see your son even less than I do and you're still here."_

"_This is true." He said, "But you and I are two different people. Going down to a primal level, you're a mother. You naturally have a much closer bond to your child, so it hurts you more. And I did loose my marriage and the love of my life to this job, but that only makes staying here seem worth it. If I left now, then I would have lost all of that for nothing. You don't have to loose Will, JJ. You can get out and be with your family. If you want to, than do it."_

"_But-"_

"_JJ," Hotch interrupted, "I told you, this job takes everything, including passion. If a person doesn't have passion for this job, they won't do it right. Your passion doesn't belong to this job anymore, JJ. It belongs to your family, as well it should."_

_JJ sighed before saying, "I've been thinking about this for awhile now. I've been looking into replacements off-the-grid."_

"_And?" Hotch urged. He didn't want her to leave, but he understood exactly where she was coming from._

"_There's one woman, Adine Grace. She was a student at Cal-Tech and Harvard, graduated from with high honors, valedictorian of her Harvard graduating class."_

"_She could have any job she wanted, why this one?" Hotch asked._

"_I asked her," JJ said, "She told me she has a strong passion law enforcement- always has- she actually loves being busy-says it keeps her mind off of other things- and she's always been one to make the decisions."_

"_What 'other things'" Hotch questioned. If this woman was involved in any trouble, he needed to know._

"_I won't tell you," JJ said sternly, "That's entirely up to her if and when she wants to tell you. But I can say with utter confidence that everything about it is very noble and only makes her a better candidate for the job."_

"_Is she responsible?"_

"_Well," JJ said, "Like I told you, graduated from Cal-Tech with high honors and valedictorian of her Harvard class…"_

"_Yes…" Hotch urged._

"_But I failed to tell you her graduations were within two weeks of each other."_

"_She attended both colleges at the same time?" Hotch asked, disbelieving. _

"_No," She corrected, "She attended Cal-Tech. She almost never actually went to a class at Harvard."_

"_How?"_

"_She's a very smart girl." JJ said simply. "Not a certified genius, never actually had her I.Q. measured, but very smart. The whole process she explained to me was too confusing to remember, though."_

_Hotch gave a small smile before getting back to the original point._

"_So is Adine Grace going to be our new liaison?" He asked._

"_I called her and she said she can come in tomorrow. We have a case and I was hoping maybe she could go with us, get a taste of the job before she had to take over."_

"_Jordan Todd didn't go on a case." He pointed out._

"_Jordan Todd was a temporary liaison." JJ countered. _

"_I see your point." Hotch admitted. "Tell her to pack a go-bag just in case. I'll discus it with Dave tomorrow morning and we'll let you and her know."_

"_Alright." JJ said, getting up, "And Hotch?" She called from the door to the man now back at his desk._

_He looked up at her._

"_Thank you." She said with a small smile before walking out._

JJ was leaving. Hotch was telling the truth, he didn't blame her. Right now he himself wanted nothing more than to go home and read his son a bed time story, but he was also telling the truth when he said this job takes everything a person has.

There was one thing he was truly worried about.

The team loved JJ, hell everyone loved each other. They were closer than family, and now another member was leaving. How would they react? Especially to Adine Grace?

He remembered Gideon's reluctance to involve Prentiss in anything, and that was only after Elle had been part of the team a little over two years. JJ had been with them much longer.

Hotch looked back down at the open folder lying on desk, then at the digital clock in the corner of the desk. 10:23pm. Even though his bed time was 9pm, Jack always stayed up until 11pm at the latest waiting for his daddy to come home.

Grabbing his suit jacket and walking out of his office, Hotch decided everything could be dealt with tomorrow. Right now, he was going to go tuck his son into bed.

**

* * *

**

_I pictured you in the sun_  
_Wonderin', what went wrong?_  
_And fallin' down on your knees_  
_Askin' for, sympathy_

Adine Grace listened to her favorite song play over the water-proof speaker in her bathroom as the steaming hot, jet propelled water pellets loosened the knots in her back. She woke up at her normal time – 4am- and went straight into her shower.

She use to hate waking up so early when she was a child, but once she got into the rhythm of what she knew was her new life, she soon got over it.

Once she finally went to college, she realized that she was still waking up at her normal time, no matter what time she went to bed. Once again, she came to realize the usefulness of being an early riser. It made taking classes from an Ivy League college and a private research university-both on different sides of the country- much easier.

However, now she was at a stand still in her live. She just finished a lecture tour and was waiting for word from Agent Jareau, so her days were filled with nothing. There was absolutely no reason for her to be waking up to early. She didn't want to be bored. It gave her time to think and thinking leads to memories and for her, memories are not fun. For the majority of her days of boredom, Adine would write. Anything that had to do with focus and words and distracted her from her childhood, Adine would write it. But you could only write so much. And usually you have to stop sometime in a near 20 hour day, if only for your posture.

_And being caught in between  
All you wish for  
And all you seen  
And trying to find anything  
You can feel  
That you can believe in_

Adine sang along to the song she knew by heart. Her best friend Danny was a huge Joseph Arthur fan. And the day after the song was introduced to the public, Danny dedicated it to her. Everytime she woke up from a nightmare, she'd call him and he come over and sing her to sleep. But now he couldn't do that.

'_Don't be mad at him, Ada,' _she thought to herself, '_It makes him happy.'_

Adine stepped out of the shower and wrapped a white cotton towel around her body. Whipping the fog from her mirror with a hand, Adine examined her clean face.

Her shoulder-length hair was patted down and slicked back by the water, extenuating her forehead. Her light-brown eyebrows rested in a straight line a matter of centimeters above her eyes. She liked her eyebrows. They were an odd thing to like, but she would take what she could get. They weren't special, just there, about as thick as her slim little pinky finger. No arches or curves or anything. Just her natural, slightly plucked eyebrows.

Below her eyebrows were of course her eyes. They were prominent and a deep green. She use to love her eyes when she was a little girl, everyone always complimented her on them. But soon, she learned to hate them. They looked beautiful cosmetically, but emotionally, they were dead. Danny, sometimes too honest, told her that her eyes use to sparkle and brighten his day, but now they were just dull and made him a little depressed every time he saw her.

Well, he didn't have to worry about that anymore, now did he!

'_Damnit, don't be mad at him!'_

Taking her mind off of Danny, Adine lowered her eyes to examine her nose. It was nothing special. Just a nose.

Then, she looked to her lips. A soft, rosy pink color. Rather full. Danny use to joke about how she could be a ChapStick model.

A 'bizz' sound from her bathroom cabinet snapped her back to reality. Adine turned to the cabinet and opened the double doors. Grabbing her Blackberry, Adine opened the new text message. It was from Agent Jareau, asking if Adine could come in today around 9am and possibly go on a case.

Adine replied in the positive and turned back to the mirror. She was going to go meet new people today.

She looked deep into the reflection of dead, green eyes and let the soothing voice of Joseph Arthur consume her, singing along in her mind.

'_Cause if I find,  
If I find my own way  
How much will I find?  
If I find  
If I find my own way,  
How much will I find?_


	2. RerereREMIX!

**_So, every time I read over this story, I hate it more. While the general plot is still on the tracks I laid in my head, the character development is totally out of whack. I've been reviewing some of the chapters and decided to remix this whole story. The replacement chapters up through about 5, 6, or 7 (we'll see how it pans out) will be up soon, seeing as I have already typed them.  
_**

**_Now, I just copied and pasted the words into OpenOffice, so some of the chapters will seem really close to the originals, but some keys points that will affect the continuation of the story have changed, so just try to read through the chapters again, just to make sure you're caught up with the new flow of things._**

**_And a little personal update, been going to a tutor to prep for the beginning of classes again, Mom is on anti-depressants and suicide watch, dad is out of the country for the next six months, grandma is dying, I'm on a job hunt while still attending college two years early and life pretty much sucks right now._**

**_However, that is good for you all, because writing is a release, so I should be more consistent soon._**

**_Keep an eye on your emails, cuz the remixes are coming soon.  
_**


	3. Chapter 2

The BAU was a buzz, just like any other morning, Agent Hotchner noticed. Interns and assistants were running around with painfully high stacks of folders and papers that needed copying, shredding, or signing. Agents were visiting with each other, trying to work, or just bothering someone. Hotch couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed his team doing all three. Morgan and Garcia were talking together as they walked into the bullpen, both catching sight as the young Dr. Spencer Reid flying through his papers. The two apparently decided that the younger agent was working too hard, and decided to go and hassle the poor man.

Hotch turned his head away from the window that faced the bullpen and back the desk in front of him. He saw the papers he was filling out last night when JJ came in.

'_That's right.'_ The senior agent reminded himself, '_JJ's leaving.'_

He looked back out at the three people surrounding one desk. One of them was sitting down and trying to ignore the two that were leaning closer to him, both smiling like Cheshire cats.

How would he tell them? All three of them were here to see Gideon and Elle leave; could they handle JJ leaving too? She was the heart of the team; she made them smile when they needed it, she kept them all together and from killing each other.

Looking at his clock, Hotch noted that was 8:30am. Work didn't actually start until 9am, but everyone always came in at eight, always went the extra mile. In a half hour, they'd be de-briefed on a new case and they'd all meet their soon-to-be new liaison.

He had spoken to Rossi about it, and they both agreed that this Adine Grace should go with them on the case. Rossi had taken the news of JJ's departure as well as Hotch expected. The older agent didn't know JJ as well as the others did, and was more so focused on business. He, like Hotch, decided that JJ was completely within her rights to leave if she wanted to, and she did.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Come in."

He watched JJ walk in slowly, almost shamefully. "Adine Grace is here." She told him. "I told her to come in at nine, but according to security she came in at seven and has been waiting in my office." She finished with a small smile.

"Well then," Hotch started, smiling to himself. This girl would fit nicely, "There's no reason to wait until nine. I'll call everyone into the conference room."

"Wait," JJ said, "what about Emily?"

"Her mother has been sick lately," Hotchner told the blonde agent, "She'll be out for a while."

"Alright." JJ answered. "I'll go talk to Adine."

With that, the young woman walked back to her own office. Hotch sighed and got up from his desk, walking out to the bullpen.

"Everyone, conference room, five minutes." He called, knowing that instead of waiting the five minutes, they were all following him in.

* * *

"Adine?" She heard a feminine voice cal from the doorway. Looking up, she was met with bright blue eyes and a warm smile.

"Good morning Agent Jareau." Adine replied respectfully.

"I would tell you to call me JJ," The blonde started with a smile, "But considering I've already told you that three times, I'd say it's useless."

Adine smiled in return, "I'd have to agree."

"Alright, honestly I have to know, why won't you call me 'JJ'?" The agent asked with a laugh.

"I was raised to be respectful, and Agent Jareau is respectful," The younger woman explained.

"Okay," JJ replied with a smile, "whatever works for you. The team is meeting in the conference room for the de-briefing and our Unit Chief has decided that it would be good for you to come along, to observe how the team works before going solo."

"Alright." The young woman stood up and followed the agent out of the office, her cross between strawberry and honey blonde curls bouncing slightly.

* * *

Spencer watched as JJ entered the room, another woman with her. The moment he saw the woman, he was captivated by her. She had fair skin that went perfectly with her dirty-blonde hair. He noticed that - mixed in with the natural light blonde highlights in her loose curls ad waves- there was a light red hue when she stepped into the sunlight that was cast through the window.

"Everyone," JJ started, bringing Spencer's attention back to reality, "This is Adine Grace, and she'll be accompanying us on this case and observing how the team works."

"Why?" Spencer asked. At the looks he got from the team, he realized that he just acted rudely. "Sorry." He muttered, looking down. He hadn't meant to be rude, he was just honestly curious.

"Knowledge." The young woman, Adine, told him with a smile. "And don't be." Spencer took note on just how beautiful her smile was.

Spencer smiled an embarrassed, closed-mouth smile back.

"Alright," JJ started again, breaking the silence, "He's SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, and the man next to him is SSA Derek Morgan, SSA David Rossi, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, and Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. And I am **JJ**." She finished, emphasizing her nickname.

"Thank you for the introductions, Agent Jareau." Adine teased. "It's nice to meet you all."

"You know what?" JJ started in slight annoyance mixed with a dash of amusement, "I give up. Call me what ever you want to."

Adine smiled shyly, her lips tugging upwards and her eyes shinning like a young child's meeting their parents friends for the first time. As JJ started the debriefing, Spencer watched Adine walk to the back of the room and stand in front of the couch. Why she didn't just sit, he knew not.

* * *

Everyone sat on the plane, getting comfortable for their three hour flight.

Rossi and Hotch sat around one table, JJ and Adine at the one across the aisle.

Spencer was currently sitting alone at a table, seeing as Morgan got up to get coffee.

However, that wasn't the only reason Morgan got up. Before going back to his seat across from the young genius, Morgan went to Rossi and Hotch. Sitting down in the empty seat next to Hotch, Morgan asked the question that's been in his mind since the moment he saw Adine Grace.

"Who is she?"

Hotch looked to Rossi, who nodded slightly.

"She's JJ's replacement." Hotch said quietly, not wanting to alert the women across the way.

"What? Hotch you can't be serious." Morgan said, irate at the idea of someone replacing JJ. "JJ hasn't done anything wrong-"

"I'm not firing her Morgan," Hotch interrupted, angry at the assumption, "She's choosing to leave. She wants to be with her family and I can respect that, and I expect you too, also."

Morgan sighed in anger, glancing at the woman talking to JJ.

"Hotch, what do we even know about her?" he questioned. Right now he would do anything to keep JJ on the team, even though he knew it was pointless. If she wanted to leave, she could leave.

"We know that JJ has been looking into this for two years and Adine is the person she chose. We need to trust her." Rossi said in a final tone.

Morgan took the hint and got up. He walked back to where he and Reid were sitting, dropping down in a chair across from the young doctor.

He could feel the younger agent's eyes on him, so he decided to fill the poor kid in.

"She's JJ's replacement. JJ's leaving." That was all he said before putting in his earbuds and drowning out the world.


	4. Chapter 3

Adine sat in the background as the team discussed the case. They were all in a make-shift conference room in the Denver, Colorado police department doing everything they could to help find the twisted individual that was throwing woman from top-floor hotel balconies.

Adine, though secretly being the one to choose this case, hated this particular method of killing. She's always been terrified of heights, ever since that one particular incident involving her older brother, a personal plane and the ocean. She told Danny about her choice and he- of course- questioned it greatly. Explaining to him that she figured this would be a way to help her face her fear, she told him to kindly let her live her own life.

Danny had a history of being controlling.

Trying to distract herself from the memories that brought on her fear, Adine decided to focus on something that was actually directly affecting her right now.

Agent Morgan and Dr. Reid. They seemed nice enough when JJ first introduced her to the team. Adine had honestly taken a liking to Dr. Reid, he seemed really sweet and approachable, not to mention very, very physically appealing.

But after the plane landed, the two agents had changed completely.

Agent Morgan hadn't been out-rightly rude, but he wasn't willing to be nice to her. He didn't help her with her bags, he didn't talk to her at all, and he didn't hold the door open for her when they were walking into the station even thought she was right behind. Well, looking back, Adine realized that he had been quit the jerk to her.

Dr. Reid, he was a different story, one she didn't really care for. He ignored her, if not for the other agents, she wouldn't be to sure she even truly existed.

Tuning back into the conversations taking place between the agents, Adine took note that –summed up- the killer was a cry baby with abandonment issues.

Dr. Reid was now babbling about something that was somehow related to the case. Normally, she probably would have been interested in what he was saying- Adine always being eager for new knowledge- but a vibrating sensation in her pants pocket grabbed her attention.

Pulling the phone out, Adine was suddenly filled with anger at what she saw on the caller id.

"Am I boring you?" She heard the young genius snip.

Not even looking up from her phone, she all but whispered, "I- I'm sorry, I have to take this." With that she got up and walked out of the room.

* * *

"What was the phone call about?" Morgan asked when she walked back in. She barley even heard him and decided to act as though she hadn't at all, hoping that he may just drop it.

He didn't.

"I asked you a question."

"I know, and I chose to ignore it." She answered truthfully. After the conversation she just had, she wasn't willing to take his misinformed hatred towards her.

"Why."

And with that, Adine snapped.

"Okay, let's take a moment to observe the scene that took place a few minutes ago. My phone rang. I checked the caller id and immediately went to where I knew no one could over-hear my conversation. That means it was more than likely personal. Then I came back very quite and –judging by the looks everyone gave me- clearly upset. So let's look at the upset part first and build an argument with it shall we?"

She didn't wait for a reply.

"From the moment you found out I was replacing JJ, you labeled me the enemy, some horrible person that you hate and you- both of you-," she said, looking pointedly at Reid, "have been nothing but jackasses to me without even getting to know me. So why on earth would I tell a self-righteous asshole that was out- to- get- me about something that obviously upsets me?

"Now, let's build a new argument for the personal part. I don't know you. I know you are SSA Derek Morgan and at one point acted as temporary Unit Chief. I don't you if you're married, seeing someone, if you're straight or gay, or anything about your family. So if I don't know anything personal about you, why would I tell you something personal about me?

"So, taking both arguments into consideration, there wasn't, isn't and never will be a decent reason for me to answer your question Agent Morgan."

The entire room was silent, everyone but JJ shocked into silence. No one thought that the girl that seemed so shy and sweet could be such a bitch.

"Now," She said, much more calm this time, "Don't you all have a profile to work on?"

With that, everyone turned back to the board. Everyone but Dr. Reid. He was looking her directly in the eyes, a look about him like he was studying her. She would have snapped at him, should have snapped him, but she didn't. In all honesty, she didn't want him to look away. She liked the sensation it gave, having him examine her as though she were a piece of art.

So instead of yelling at him, she simply gave him a twitch of a smile and sat back down, more than ready to blend into the background again.

* * *

He knew she was right. He and Morgan had been huge jerks to her and they had no reason to.

She hadn't done a thing to them, she was actually very kind and shy, and yet they kept treating her like dirt.

Spencer wasn't sure what that phone call had been about; apparently the only person who even had a chance of knowing was JJ.

When Adine had left the room Hotch and Rossi looked directly at JJ. All she did was shake her head and say, "I'm not going to tell you."

But did she really have that choice? What if that phone call was about something that could put the team at risk? What if Adine was involved in something illegal?

There was a point in his life when Spencer wouldn't even think of that, but after what happened to him a few years ago, who knew?

After her rightfully deserved tantrum, Spencer felt the urge to take a closer look at the woman, size her up. She stood with purpose and Spencer imagined the words 'alpha-female' flashing over her head. He looked at her hands, fingers hooked through belt loops. He remembered recently reading that a trait commonly found in mothers was a subconscious need to keep their hands busy. They didn't just let their hands rest on their legs; they had to be doing something. Right now they were pulling on her belt loops, lowering the hem of her black pants just enough for Spencer to see the top of her lace panties.

Trying to stop the thoughts that were in his mind at the sight, Spencer made direct eye contact with her. He looked into her dark green eyes, dull and guarded. That worried him. The only people he knew with that kind of look in their eyes were the people in this room, and for most of them he watched the progression. Adine, her eyes were like Hotch's. Someone who had seen and been through too much, but was too strong and proud to admit defeat. Hotch had lost almost everything to this job and it had happened over a decent five or six years. Adine hadn't even technically started the job yet, and she already looked as worn as some of the most experienced agents.

Too many possibilities of what happened to her were running through his mind when Spencer finally looked away. He knew that he'd have to talk to Adine, apologize to her and try to re-connect, but he couldn't do that right now.

Right now he had to focus on the serial killer.


	5. Chapter 4

The black SUV sped down the highway towards the Alexandra Hotel. They had gotten a call a few minutes ago-about 10 minutes after a press release- from a hotel worker. She told the team that there was a man; he had lived in the hotel his entire life. Recently he had been out a lot, for days at a time. The team knew that this was because he was kidnapping women and throwing them over the edge of different hotels. According to the hotel employee, his mother had jumped from their balcony when he was 16 years old.

After the physical description and the bit of information that the employee had seen him, Tyler Grepper, take a "tired" woman up to his suit, everyone all but sprinted to the cars. And now Spencer and Adine sat in the backseat while Hotch and JJ were in front, Morgan and Rossi following close behind in another.

Spencer couldn't help but be restless. This was undoubtedly the worst part of the job, just waiting. Sometimes it was waiting for new information, sometimes it was waiting for Garcia (though that rarely took place) and sometimes it was this. Waiting to get to the unsub, knowing each second could be the second too late to save someone's life.

But Spencer couldn't help to think that maybe, this time, the restlessness was from something else. He kept glancing over to Adine, who was also restless.

He had a difficult time telling if her worries came from the excitement of her first case, the anger from whatever that phone call was about, or whatever was causing the repressed fear he'd seen in her eyes the whole case- the fear that seemed to be creeping up more and more with each street lamp the passed.

Deciding that he should try to calm her down, Spencer turned to her and apologized for being so rude to her.

"Adine?" He started, frightened slightly when she immediately jerked her head to face him, an innocent, questioning look on her face. "I'm sorry about how I treated you, and Morgan is too."

"Don't speak for another person." She said simply.

He was a bit taken back by how calm she was now compared to a few seconds ago when she looked about to have a heart attack. However, he continued, "You're right, I'm sorry about that too, I guess," He said with a slight laugh.

She gave a very small, practically unnoticeable, smile before turning to look back out of the window. Spencer sighed and tried to start up another conversation.

"So, uh, I don't mean to cross any lines or anything by asking this and uh, you definitely don't have to answer it but, uh, I was wondering if you wanted to talk about the phone call." He told her, answered only by silence.

Giving up on the idea of getting her to open up, Spencer turned and looked out his own window.

"I'm sorry."

Spencer looked back at her. She wasn't looking at him, though. No, she was visually enticed by the blurring night life of Denver.

"I don't like talking about my problems." She continued, still not looking at him, "I figure they're my problems for a reason, and I shouldn't pass them off on other people."

"But sometimes they can help." He told her, trying to break through her shell.

"Trust me, Dr. Reid." She finally looked him in the eye, "I can handle anything life throws at me. I have 27 years of proof to attest to that."

* * *

She was scared, to say the least. She was about to face a psychopath who had a thing for tossing women from hotels. But she can handle it.

The moment the car started to slow, she swallowed all of her fears and braced herself for flying out of the car and up the stairs to floor 54, where she and Morgan were assigned to Grepper's third room in the hotel.

"Everyone, you know your assignments," Hotch said as they all met in front of the hotel, SWAT and police surrounding the building, "Use the radios if you find Grepper."

With that they broke into their groups, her and Morgan racing to and up the stairs.

They both took position on either side of the door and her partner knocked loudly. "Mr. Grepper, FBI, open the door."

Nothing came from behind the door.

Adine took her turn to knock. "Mr. Grepper, this is the FBI, please open the door or we open it by force."

Just when they thought they were going to be greeted by silence again, a female scream rang through the door.

In an instant, Morgan was positioned in front of the door and kicked it down with not a wince nor twitch.

As he did this, Adine said into the radio, "Floor 54, room 5413, female screams, two agents going in."

They both stalked in, guns leading the way. Adine went to left, Morgan to right.

"Clear!" She called as she checked the bathroom. "Clear." She heard him call in return.

Walking into the bedroom, Adine was greeted with the sight of Grepper dragging a young woman to the French doors, leading to a balcony.

"Freeze!" She shouted, pointing her gun (handed out specifically for this assignment. She'd take her Qualifiers next Tuesday) at Grepper. She couldn't get a clear shot at him, the woman getting in the way.

"Let her go, Grepper."

"No!" He shouted back at her.

"Why, Tyler?" She asked, using his first name to try to get on a more personal level, "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing." He said with tears in his eyes, "She hasn't done a thing yet, but she'll leave me. They always do, every single one of them."

"I won't leave you, I promise." The young woman cried.

"Shut up! Yes you will!" Grepper screamed, dragging the woman closer to the edge of the balcony.

Adine calmed herself. She could handle this. She can always handle it. This was no different than any other scenario in her life. She's got this.

She slowly lowered her gun, not disarming herself at all, but giving Grepper a sense of security so he wouldn't freak out when she began her advancement.

"Stop that!" Grepper yelled when he saw her closing in on him.

"Let her go." Adine demanded again, getting closer and closer until she, herself, was on the balcony. In hindsight, that probably wasn't her best course of action. Adrenaline, man. It can make ya' do crazy stuff.

In the moment that Grepper was distracted by the agent, the young woman kicked his legs out from under him. He instantly released his hold on her hair and she darted into the room, seeing another agent slowly enter the room, keeping far enough away that Grepper didn't see him.

The agent brought a finger to his lips, telling her to be quite and she frantically nodded in agreement.

Grepper, in a fit of rage, launched himself at the female agent.

Adine was taken by surprise, but fought back the best she could.

Now, in this time of confusion and chaos, Adine had a grand total of three coherent thoughts.

1) This bastard must have been a linebacker or something, because that tackle hurt like a mo-fo, 2) The balcony railing is giving out? This hotel is _so_ not up to safety standards and 3) Holy shit, I'm about to die.

"Grace!" She heard someone shout. In the single second of the railing Grepper had tackled her against giving out and herself loosing balance in return and about to fall to her asphalt-y death, she felt herself grab a hold of something. What was it? Well, whatever the hell it was, it was giving out, too.

Adine used her cruddy hand rail to propel herself fully onto the balcony once more, where she crawled to the safety of the hotel room.

Carefully, she crawled back out to the balcony and, out of curiosity, took one look down.

Well, curiosity _did_ kill the cat.

So far down. Such a long fall it would have been. How long would it have taken, for her to finally hit the ground? For how long would she have been falling when she finally lost her balance? Would she have had to suffer with that terrible feeling of every organ in her body flying out for mere seconds, or agonizing minutes?

She reversed her crawl, and soon felt the crappy carpet of the hotel floor beneath her hands once more.

In the background, she could hear the rest of the team and SWAT rush into the scene, she could hear Grepper resisting arrest, and she could hear the young woman bawling out 'thank you' as people tried to calm her down.

And very faintly, she could hear JJ asking her if she was okay. Immediately, she felt everyone's eyes on her, focused on where she was sitting against the wall next to the balcony doors.

"I'm alright." She said with a deep breath, standing up and walking out of the bedroom, through the living room, out the door and into the stair well, where she found some peace and quiet to fully come to terms with what had just happened.

* * *

Adine sat by herself on the plane. She was avoiding everyone as best as she could. They all- meaning JJ, Reid and Morgan- were smothering her, inquiring about her her physical and mental well being. 'I'm fine' she had told them over and over and _over, _but her conformations of substantial health fell on deaf ears apparently.

She looked out the plane window down at the clouds. Surprisingly enough, she had no fear of planes, she actually kind of loved them. Any normal person who shared her childhood experience probably wouldn't go anywhere near a flying aircraft, but then again, she was far from normal.

Adine was brought out of her thoughts by Reid and Morgan taking two seats near her- Morgan right next to her, Spencer across from her.

"My dad died when I was 10." Morgan said abruptly.

"My father left me and my mother when I was 10." Reid said in the same manner.

Adine smiled and looked down, she knew what they were doing. "You're hoping that if you tell me something personal about your guy's lives, I'll tell you something about mine."

She looked at the faces of her future co-workers and the hopeful eyes told her she was right.

"And, depending on what you ask, I'll tell you something."

"Why are you so scared of heights?" The young doc asked the moment Adine finished her sentence.

She chuckled before telling them.

"My entire family is military. My dad was a Marine, my uncle the National Guard. My aunt was in the Air Force, my grandpa the Navy, we had everything covered." She chuckled again. "Well, my uncle had a personal plane, piloting being his life and all. He use to take me and my brother up all the time. He'd never close the door during the summer because it's too hot. One time my brother and I got in a fight, and he accidentally pushed me out of the plane."

She couldn't help but chuckle at the gaping faces surrounding her.

"We weren't that high up and we were over the ocean, so it's all good." She told them with another chuckle.

"So, you must be terrified of this jet than." Morgan assumed.

"No, not really." Adine said simply, "I don't think I have acrophobia, more so just a fear of falling. Falling out of a window at Sears Tower? Not likely. Ferris Wheel mishap that leads to a falling car that I happen to be in? May happen, but probably won't. However, a fallen tree in the forest that is the only way to cross over a small canyan? Yeah...not on your life."

"So not so much a fear of heights in general, but more of a fear of open heights?" Reid guessed.

"Yup." She replied with a nod. "So what are you guys scared of?"

"Nope." Morgan responded immediately.

"No?" Adine asked with a smile.

"You will not get it out of me." He told her with determination. She took the hint and turned to the man in front of her.

"What about you, Doc?" She asked, "What's your biggest fear?"

"The dark." He told her with no shame.

"Really? Aw, man, I love the dark!" She told him enthusiastically.

"Why?" He asked her with a single laugh and a smile, amazed by how comfortable he'd become around her, "You're can't see anything, most people try to stay away form the darkness, so you're probably alone. If you're not you're more than likely with someone dangerous, it's just bad news."

"You think I'm dangerous?" She said with a smile, "But you see, that's exactly why I love the dark. No one is there to bother you. If I'm not walking my dog, I'm always walking at night. There's kind of an unspoken agreement between night prowlers: if the person is content and safe, don't interact."

"Content and Safe?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah," Adine answered, "Like, if someone is crying on the park bench, you go ask them what's wrong, or if someone's being mugged, you can intervene, but if they're minding their own business and happy about it, don't even acknowledge them. Just let them be. Clearly, they do not need the stress of your awkward small talk."

Spencer laughed before asking, "You're not a very sociable person, are you?"

Adine showed him a bright, genuine smile. "Nope. I mean, I'm very sociable when I want to be. But when I'm walking by myself with a far off look in my eyes and my ear buds in, I would think it'd be clear that I'm perfectly happy being without human interaction at the time."

"I still don't like the dark." Spencer said finally before looking out his window.

"I still don't like being pushed out of planes." Adine joked, looking out her window as well.

"I'm still not gonna tell you what I don't like." Morgan admitted.

"Jerk." Adine and Spencer both mumbled, causing all three of them to laugh quietly.


	6. Chapter 5

The plane landed around midnight and everyone (including Hotch) went home, saving the paper work for tomorrow. Not bothering to bid 'goodbye' to anyone, Adine quickly hailed a cab and hopped in, ready to go home and to bed for a change.

Walking through her apartment door, Adine dropped her first time go-bag with a loud 'thud' and wandered to her kitchen, thinking to grab a snack and snuggle into bed. She hated being tired, it was weird for someone purposely insomniac to actually desire sleep.

Rummaging through her fridge, Ada yanked out some Yoo-Hoo and a chocolate cake she made for her and her neighbor/best friend a few days ago.

With a piece on her plate and a bottle of cocoa-moo, Adine plopped onto her couch and started to lazily ingest the midnight snack.

"You know when I was at the BAU, our cases lasted longer."

"Guess I know how to pick 'em." Adine replied with a very tired smile, her eye lids barely staying up.

Elle smiled and made some kind of noise between a scoff and a laugh before her eyes widened, "Wait, you picked the case?"

"Yeah, Agent Jareau wanted me to. You know, get a feel for it. Why?"

"You picked a case where a guy was tossing girls over hotel balconies. You do realize you're acrophobic, right?" Elle asked with a laugh.

"Not necessarily." Adine argued.

Elle once again scoffed and took a seat on the coffee table in front of the couch.

There was a comfortable silence between the two as Adine nibbled on her snack and Elle contemplating something random. Elle tended to remind Adine of John Dorian, from Scrubs, always going off in her own world.

"If I ever met a phobophobic," Elle said suddenly, "I'd have to laugh."

Adine took a moment to try and figure out what phobophobia meant, before taking a guess and saying, "Fear of having a phobia?"

Elle laughed out a 'yup'.

"That's terrible!" Adine giggled.

"I know, I know." Elle said, "But seriously, just that cruel irony, it amuses me."

Adine practically doubled over in laughter, "You are a bad person Elle Greenaway!"

"Not as bad as your brother." Elle pointed out.

"Yeah, there is that." Adine agreed, just as her home phone started to ring. She set her snack beside Elle and jogged to her phone, picking it off of the receiver.

"Adine Grace." She answered.

Elle picked at the abandoned chocolate cake and watch in mild- interest as Adine talked into a phone. Her interest, however, perked up when a look of despair washed over her friend's face.

The blonde hung up the phone with a simple 'Goodnight' and wandered over to couch once again.

Elle waited. And waited. And waited.

"Ada?"

"I'm..." the woman started, "I'm going to go for a walk, okay?"

Before Elle had time to ask, Adine had her iPod and cellphone and was gone.

* * *

Spencer Reid carefully walked down the near empty streets of downtown Fredericksburg, hoping to find some kind of 24 hour food provider. He stayed behind everyone else with Garcia (who, as always, came to greet and welcome them home) and told her all about the new girl.

He wasn't quiet sure what to think of Adine Grace. She seemed nice enough and like a good person, but she was so closed off. She really didn't seem to want to interact with the team. She wasn't rude to them, but she didn't try to talk to them.

She was odd.

Mid-thought, he found his food provider. A straight-shot from his current location, about three blocks down, there stood a Steak 'n' Shake, beckoning to him.

Picking up his pace just slightly, Spencer was quickly closing in on his saving grace. He could nearly smell the burger and fries, taste the Side-by-Side Strawberry and Chocolate milkshake.

Nothing could deter him, nothing could stop him from getting his food. Except Adine Grace. Sitting on a bench a few feet in front of him. Crying.

Damnit.

He slowed his pace and came to a stop at the bench.

She seemed to sense his presence, as she looked up at him, confused.

"In accordance with you're Rules of Darkness, I am to ask if you are alright."

Well, his attempt at a joke worked. She laughed out right, subconsciously bringing her hand to levitate in front of her open and smiling mouth.

"In accordance with your fear, you shouldn't be wandering around in the dark." She responded in good humor, "So why are you here?"

He smiled, "I could sense that you were in trouble."

The look she gave just shouted 'Puh- _lease_'.

"I was going to Steak 'n' Shake." He laughed, nodding to the end of the block.

She looked at it longingly. "Do they still have those two-milkshakes-in-one thingy?"

"Yup." he smiled.

She stood and linked her arm through his, "Let's go to Steak 'n' Shake."

* * *

They sat in silence after their orders were taken. Adine wasn't talking and Spencer finally figured that he'd have to just dive in.

"So, do the tears have anything to do with the phone call?" He asked. When they had stepped into the lite building, he had easily noticed that she hadn't just been crying. Tear stains had dried on her red cheeks and her lips were puffed and the color of raspberries. She had been downright bawling.

"Sort of." She mumbled.

"Sort of?"

She sighed and rested her head in her hands, starring down at the table. "There was another phone call. When I got home, there was another phone call, directly related to the earlier one. That call is what caused...this." She finished, moving one hand to point to her still-stained face.

Spencer was getting annoyed. "Adine, what the hell are these phone calls about?"

"My brother." She told him, emotionless, "He was in jail earlier tonight. He was killed."

"Oh my God..." He muttered in shock, "How?"

She took a breath before continuing, "There were three other people in the holding cell. One of them went stark craving nuts and started attacking everyone. My brother was the only one who died. Others suffered some minor to severe injury, they have the nut in a mental hospital."

Spencer was silent. What was there to say?

* * *

"What else is there to know about your family?" Spencer asked through the fries and milkshake

"Uh, my parents are dead." She stated nonchalantly as she took a bite out of her burger.

"So life expectancy in your family, huh?" He joked.

"Yeah, not the greatest." She laughed in return, her green eyes twinkling in amusement. Some strange, euphoric feeling entered Spencer at the sight of those eyes coming back to life.

"How'd they die?" He questioned, "If you don't mind my asking."

"I don't," She affirmed, "It was a long time ago."

"Alright, then. Let's hear it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Come one! I wanna hear it!"

"Well, alright, you asked for it." She said. It sounded like it should have been a joke, but her face and tone were completely serious, "I told you my dad was a Marine. I wasn't entirely honest. He was a Marine, but a special kind. Like the Navy Seals of Marines, I don't even know what his department was called," She chuckled, "But I did meet his team. One of them, Bill, was like my father. A family man. Mrs. Pendergast- his wife- and my mom became best friends, as did I with his two kids, Caty and Danny.

"One day, while Daddy was out on one of his missions, Mrs. Pendergast came over, not uncommon. What was different, however, was her look. It was of completely despair. She told Mommy that the guys' mission was comprised and that Bill and Chris- the bachelor of the group- were in the hospital. Mommy asked about Daddy. Long story short, he came back in a casket."

"Oh my God," Spencer nearly whispered, "Adine, I'm so sor-"

"Oh, it gets worse." She interrupted, "Mommy lasted through all of the insurance paperwork and the funeral, but soon after that she broke down entirely. At first she wouldn't leave the house, then her room. It was like her mind just took a permanent vacation.

"It wasn't so bad in the beginning, but it got worse and worse. I ended up having to handle everything. If I needed an adult, I'd get my teenage neighbor's older friends to help. There were check books to balance, insurance claims to handle, then tax season came up. It was hell, and I handled it all. I guess I'm kind of a Daddy's girl like that," She smiled, "He had a knack for taking on everyone's problems for himself. Anyway, eventually my mother hung herself. I, of course, found the body. Thankfully, I was a teenager and the CPS let me choose my foster home. I had an old friend whose parents were certified, so I spent the last few years of childhood reliving fifth grade."

Spencer stared at her.

"You said you were sure." She chuckled, sipping her milkshake.

* * *

_A sixteen year old Adine walked down the hallway of her house, past the door of her mom's bedroom, and into the door of her own. She hated her mother more than ever right now. She hated the fact that she hated her own mother even more, but she couldn't help but think that anyone in her position would feel the same way._

_Adine closed her door and lay down on her un-made bed. She didn't have time to take care of her own comforts anymore; she hadn't had the time in ten years. _

_For what felt like forever, Adine just lay in the dark, starring up at the ceiling-or, at least what she knew was ceiling. She loved the darkness, she could hide in it._

_A loud thud from down the hall drew Adine from her thoughts. Her mother's room. Something happened. She should go check on it. So why wasn't she getting up?_

_Easy. Because she didn't want to. She was completely and utterly sick and tired of dealing with her mother and brother and every thing else. Let her mother take care of herself for once. Right now, Adine was going to get some well deserved rest._

_A moment later she awoke. At least, it felt like a moment, but by the daylight shining through her window, it was clear to Adine that it had really been a few hours. It was time to wake up mom._

_Getting up and walking down the hall, Adine knocked on her mother's door. No answer._

"_Mother?" She asked as she opened the door and peaked through. She was greeted with a sight that any normal person would scream at. However, being annoying far from normal, Adine simply walked past her mother's hanging body to the telephone across the room and dialed 911._

"_911, what's your emergency?" The operator asked._

"_My mother committed suicide by hanging last night." Adine said calmly._

"_I'm so sorry miss. Could you please tell your name and address and I'll send people out."_

"_My name is Adine Grace and I'm at 146 Greenberry Road." Adine told the woman, hearing her own voice start to waver._

"_I've sent a police car and ambulance miss Grace, they should be there in five minutes."_

"_Thank you." With that, Adine hung the phone up._

_The next hour and half was spent answering questions. Was she on medication and if so for what? Was she a suicide risk? How do you know she committed suicide last night? If you knew she was a suicide risk and un-able to take care of herself why didn't you check on her when you heard a distinct thud from her room? After that question Adine 'escorted' them all out of her house._

_Adine walked back into her house and to the kitchen. After realizing that she definitely was not hungry, Adine walked to her bedroom._

_Opening her door, she saw her mother hanging, face falling off, stomach cut open._

"_Adine, why didn't you help us?"_

Adine shot up out of her bed in an instant. She hadn't had that dream in a while, but she knew just what caused it.

Before, it was just her dad standing, face falling off. Then it was her mother hanging, face falling off, asking why Adine didn't help her. The stomach cut and the 'us' aspect must have been from her bother's death.

Accepting the dream and moving on, Adine checked the clock and got dressed for work. JJ was officially gone. The team had gone out for an 'end of an era' celebration last night and asked Adine if she wanted to come, but she said she was just going home to relax. Now, she was going to her first day solo on the job, JJ finishing her paper work at home.

"Andrew, I swear to god," She said as she walked into the kitchen and poured some coffee, "If you ruin this for me," She threaten her dead brother, "I will make your afterlife miserable."


	7. Chapter 6

She had avoided Doc at all costs. Last night, after he had snapped out of his stupor, he started telling her about his own messed up life. Around two in the morning, they decided that it was time to part ways and go home. Before he left, Adine had told the Doc not to be offended if she didn't really seem friendly the next day. He inquired as to why, and she told him that it usually took her awhile to process anything social. He laughed and bid her adieu.

Thankfully, he seemed to take her warning to heart. He smiled at her in the bullpen, she smiled back and that was that. They were both involved in their own work, their own life, and that was good. She hated when people pushed friendship. It'll happen when it happens, needy little rodent.

Besides, she really liked the Doc, like, more than normal. He was pretty damned cute, he seemed to be smart enough to keep her on her feet, and he was easy to talk to. If they become friends, great! If they eventually become something more (wishful thinking, yes, but even damaged people can dream) then that would be awesome.

Suddenly, there was a rapping on her door.

Adine strode over to the door and opened it, seeing a smiling Penelope Garcia.

"Hey," She said sweetly, "Morgan, Reid and I are going out to lunch, you wanna come?"

Adine gave an apologetic smile and said, "I'd love to, but I really want to get in the groove of things before I take any breaks."

"You've gotta eat." The other woman reasoned.

"I will," She the other woman, "Just not right now."

She did not seem to buy it.

"I promise." Adine smiled, lying through her teeth.

Garcia glared at her accusingly before muttering 'Fine' and walking off.

As Adine closed her door, she watch Garcia telling the men that Adine wouldn't be joining them. Morgan just shrugged and walked off with the flamboyant woman, but Doc stayed behind just long enough to look back at Adine, worried, because he knew the real reason she didn't want to go.

She just smiled at him somewhat, and he smiled back, waving slightly before running to meet the other two at the elevator.

Adine closed her door and rested against it for a moment, trying to drive her thoughts away from her brother like she had been all day. But she did have to squeal just slightly.

Doc was so damned cute when he waved.

* * *

Two and half. Two and half more hours.

She wouldn't last that long. That was a damned fact. She could already feel her deeper breaths getting shaky.

Adine sighed as she closed the file currently occupying the middle of her desk. She put it on top of the pile to her right. She then reached over to the shorting pile on her left and opened a new file. Two men murdered, both teachers at a local high school. Police had checked the class rosters for the past four years, but all students that crossed over had solid alibis.

Adine gave it a thought and out it on the 'maybe' pile by her feet.

She reached over to her left again and grabbed a new file. Once she got done with this pile, there were tow more on the floor by her desk. It was never ending. She actually found it slightly amusing that where the rest of the team gets between 3 and 7 days to recuperate and do paperwork and she had to see hell every single day. It was kind of pathetic that- and JJ vouched for this- profilers didn't realize just how much worse their jobs would be if they had to see half of what she saw.

"Okay," She said to herself, reading over the file, "Parents were murdered, leaving behind a teenage son currently living with his best friend." Normally, this wouldn't raise any massive 'potential serial killer vibes', but something made Adine turn to her computer and run a general background check on a the family. Parents were registered foster parents. The boy- Tony- was their foster son. Tony was put in foster care from the time he was ten years old, both his parents dying in a house fire. Three different foster homes in under four years, each of the parents dying mysteriously. Car accident- failed brakes. Drowning- boat accident. And now this. Both parents shot to death with an unregistered gun. Right now everything was pointing to the boy. Even if it wasn't him, this was too much to be all a huge coincidence. Either this boy was killing all of his care-givers, or someone was killing them for him. And if that's true, many more people could die before this kid was eighteen.

For the second time that day, Adine was drawn from her thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Come in." She called out, quickly re-reading the file. When the door opened, she looked up and saw Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner.

"Agent Hotchner." She greeted, standing up and shaking his hand before offering him a seat and sitting down herself.

"Please Adine, call me Hotch." He told, his stern features easing up, "I wanted to know how you were doing on your first day solo."

"Actually," She said, grabbing the file, "I think I might have it narrowed down."

She watched with a blank face as Hotch read over the file. Inside, her heart was pounding louder than the base of a rap-core song, but outside, she cool and collected.

"Well," He said finally, "I think we may have our next case, but we'll have to run it by the team before we make any ultimate decisions. Definitely put it aside though, I can almost guarantee this case."

She gave a small smile and a slight nod before putting the case in it's own special pile. Hotch stood up and started to walk out the door before he stopped and turned around.

"Grace?" He asked. She looked up at him with innocent curiosity in her eyes. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No sir." She answered immediately, no shock in her voice. They had a stare off before he said, "Okay" and continued walking back to his office.

_'No sir'_, she replayed in her mind, _'not anymore.'_

* * *

Finally. She could go home.

Well, not yet. After an entire day of looking through everyone's hell, Adine realized that once she was left alone with nothing but bad pop songs on the radio and her wandering thoughts, she'd break down, and she couldn't break down while she was driving.

She walked out of her office and on the outlines of the bullpen (not wanting to risk talking to anyone). She made a B-line for the female restroom, checked to make sure no one was there, and went to the sinks.

Adine dropped her bag and braced her hands on the sink, starring at her reflection. She looked sickly. Her skin was a pasty pale, her eyes unchanged (as pathetic as it is), and her lips were drained of their normal light pink color.

She let out a long, defeated sigh and dropped her head. She starred down at the white and cold porcelain, trying to replenish her strength.

"Keep it together." She told herself, "Almost done, keep it together."

She sighed again and turned on the water. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Adine splashed her face with lukewarm water.

"Adine?" Someone asked. She shot her head up and saw Garcia standing in the doorway, concern written on her face. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," She lied, "I'll be fine. The first day is just always kinda hard, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." She said, walking closer. "If you need anything, you know the whole team is here for you."

"I know." She reassured the tech, reaching down and grabbing her bag. "Thanks Garcia."

She speed walked out of the restroom and right into Spencer Reid.

"Sorry, Doc," She apologized, trying to avoid eye contact, "My bad."

Before he could get a word in edge wise, Reid was left starring at the fleeing form of Adine Grace.

"Is she okay?" He asked Garcia, who had followed Adine out of the bathroom.

"I don't think so." She answered honestly.

**_A/N: Okay, that's all I have done right now. She calls Spencer 'Doc' because he's a doctor. Duh._**


End file.
